BIKE
PROP ALVAREZ TOPS T.J.
IN WILD 7-CARD STUD FINALE
After dragging on for more than three
hours, tonight's $500 7-card stud event
suddenly turned into a blazing shootout
as chips flowed back and forth between
T.J. Cloutier and Leandro Alvarez. In
the most dramatic hand that Alvarez said
he had ever seen, T.J. grabbed the lead
by making jacks full against his set of
kings in a $29,000 pot. But Alvarez kept
it from becoming an even worse disaster
by just calling down T.J.'s bets, then
pulled ahead with a straight and ended
the match with a flush.
Alvarez, a public relations player at
the Bicycle Casino, said that with two
9s up and a jack showing, T.J. was representing
a big pair in the hole. If it were queens,
kings or aces, he didn't want to let him
fold by raising with his set. And if were
jacks, he wanted to save bets and still
have the chance to fill up his cowboys.
This
was Alvarez' first tournament win. He
described T.J., the world's leading tournament
money winner, as an amazing competitor,
and was also struck by how dangerous Men
"The Master" Nguyen could be with his
aggressive betting, even though he was
short-stacked late in the tournament.
The
final table got there in bizarre fashion.
With nine players remaining, Bonnie McHugh
suddenly dashed off after getting a phone
call informing her of a family emergency.
She had about $1,000 and had been blinded
down to $775 when another player with
enough chips to let her get blinded and
low-carded out, went broke after he got
tied to pocket kings and lost to Mike
Terell's flush. The unidentified player
said he could kick himself after realizing
what he had done. He explained that he
was new to tournaments and did not grasp
the situation, even though David Lamb,
to be fair to those who did not know why
McHugh had left, made an announcement.
Worse, the ninth-place finisher said he
couldn't even be here for the bubble event.
Chip
Position, Final Table
Seat
Player Chip
Count
1
John Green $2,875
2. Mike Terrell $7,200
3. Men Nguyen $10,750
4. James Hoeppner $8,850
5. T.J. Cloutier $10,900
6. Tom Hirata $6,650
7. Bonnie McHugh $775
8. Leandro Alvarez $16,350
Just as unbelievable, Men "The Master"
Nguyen, seemingly giving money away, offered
to bet anyone $100 that the woman would
make it to the final table. James Hoeppner
was the only one taking the wager. "What
chance do us mere mortals have against
him?" an onlooker asked, amazed at Men's
seemingly psychic powers.
The final table started with $75 antes,
a $150 bring-in and $400-$800 limits,
with 10 minutes remaining. Alvarez started
as the chip leader with $16,350 and quickly
extended it when, with a pair of 10s,
he picked off Men, who tried to bluff
showing 7-4-6-3. The lady who wasn't there
lasted seven hands before her $100 was
put in after limits went to $500-$1,000,
with a $100 ante and $200 bring-in. Nguyen
took her chip, and those of David Green,
with three 6s. On hand 12, two players
went out. Green was all in on third street,
and then Hoeppner, starting with pocket
kings and making kings-full, got in a
raising war and broke construction consultant
Tom Hirata, who made a set of 8s on fifth
street.
When limits went to $1,000-$2,000, Leo
still held a good-sized lead with $23,000,
then pulled even further ahead on hand
50 when Men missed draws to both a straight
and flush. A couple of hands later, Terrrell
raised all in with pocket 6s and an ace
up and lost when T.J. made a flush. Terrell,
who is in the restoration business, said
he had to cut his trip short and fly home
to Cincinnati, which is undergoing severe
flooding.
A bit later, Men took a very long time
deciding whether call a bet by T.J. and
asked T.J himself to call for a clock.
"I've never put a clock on anyone in my
life," Cloutier answered, then took it
back. "I would if it were Brent (the king
of strategic stalls) Carter," he said.
After going all in and surviving three
times, and with limits at $1,500-$3,000,
a low-chipped Master finally was eliminated
when CPA Hoeppner made three jacks to
beat his kings.
Hoeppner was left with about $2,900 after
T.J. beat him with aces-up. He finally
broke past hand 100 when he started with
split kings and couldn't improve when
T.J. paired his buried ace on fourth street.
Heads-up, Alvararez led, about $33,000
to $22,000. Then came the hand, capped
pre-flop, where Alavarez hit his third
king and T.J. filled on fifth street.
On the ninth hand heads-up, with $2,000-$4,000
limits, Leo regained the lead when his
straight beat T.J.'s two pair. Two hands
later Leo took T.J.'s last $16,000 by
making a heart flush after T.J. had check-raised
with a paired king.
Max Shapiro
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